republican house speaker was still talking it up. michigan's republican governor said this seems fair, we'll consider it. in the end, turns out that even michigan's honey badger republicans have their limits. just when it looked like they would gnaw to enact this scheme when nobody else could stomach it, finally, michigan republicans found they couldn't stomach it, at least not yet. michigan's republican leader in the senate doesn't want to go through it. michigan's governor, schneider, says he is very skeptical of the idea that this just is not the right time. so we started with six possible states that republicans hoped to fill the playing field. florida, wisconsin, ohio, and finally michigan said they wouldn't do it. but there is still a holdout,

not michigan, i am surprised to say i thought the holdout would be michigan. but turns out the holdout is pennsylvania. the republican senate majority leader said he would introduce a bill this month in february, even if it makes some folks in his party a little queasy, i thought it was home to the republican party in 2013. but maybe it is pennsylvania, maybe it is actually tom corbett eating the cobra. hard ball's up next. good night. the pain of mccain. let's play "hardball." good evenly iing. i'm chris matthews in washington. let me start with this. why is john mccain so gri?

why america? why are we fighting the vietnam war all over again in the united states senate. the have it tree troll against chuck hagel. is it about lyndon johnson's inability to win that war or end it? what is it that burns so deeply in john mccain today? for some reason he wants to play it again and again in iraq and afterno afghanistan and again in iran. we look at the resentment burning in john mccain's heart. it's not against george w. bush and his political henchmen who tried to stay mccain's reputation in 2000 but a guy who fear and rallied against wounds just like he did. chuck hagel, a nightmare, by the way, whose flashbacks must haunt

still the heart still of john sydney mccain. both are msnbc analysts. both of you, sir, and lady, are younger than me, but i must tell you i'm absolutely convinced we're watching a flashback. watch this. he did a long angry windup before he launched into his first so-called question which was really an indictment. it included putdowns as well as references to vietnam. let's listen. >> in january of 2007 in a rather bizarre exchange with secretary rice in the foreign relations committee after some nonsense about syria and crossing the border into iran and syria because of the surge, and a reference to cambodia in 1970 you said, quote, when you set in motion the kind of policy the president's talking about here, it's very, very dangerous.

quote, matter of fact, i have to say, madam secretary, i think the speech given last night by this president represents the most dangerous foreign policy blunder in this country since vietnam. if it's carried out, i will resist it. in march 2008 you said, quote, here the term "quagmire" could apply. >> what are these? the full bright hearings? i lived through them? this is kind of like a 1970s movie where you go back into the past where it never even happened. why is he fighting with him about vietnam. >> it's interesting. he's fighting with him over iraq but it seems to be vietnam. he seems to be mad that hagel took issue with him about iraq and compared it to vietnam being the big blunder, which, of course, hagel and mccain both served in.

when mccain talks about iraq, he only wants to talk about it from the surge on. it's as if everything before that didn't happen and didn't count and we ask still debate whether it worked or not but the big decision is whether it was as big as vietnam. and he didn't want to have that argument. >> he dug into his ankle here and he wouldn't let go. let's listen again. back again to the old war. >> were you correct or incorrect when you said that the surge would be the most dangerous foreign policy blunder in this country since vietnam? were you correct or incorrect? >> my -- >> yes or no. >> my reference to -- >> are you going to answer the question, senator hagel? the question is were you right or wrong? that's a pretty straightforward question. i would like the answer whether you were right or wrong, and then you're free to elaborate. >> i'm not going to give you a yes or no. think it's far more complicated

that that. as i said, my answer is i'll defer that judgment to history. as to the comment i made about the most dangerous foreign policy decision since vietnam was about not just the surge but the overall war of choice going into iraq. >> well, there you have it. joy, your thoughts. you're younger, you've been through it, you lived through it in school. mccain is so angry. is it really about the surge? what is it? did they yell at each other in the cloak room? i'm trying to figure out the anger here. >> these guys both served as you said, chris, they were good friends in the arms and the senate. john mccain seems to be a man who's tormented hchl's tormented by the demons that have to do with the things he was denied. he was denied the presidency, so he couldn't stand george w. bush. he was denied it again and can't stand barack obama or anyone he

nominates. in a way john mccain made the surge into the war as john mccain would have fought it as commander in chief and anyone who questions it gets the wrath of mccain. i watched that part of the hearing with colonel jack jacobs and patrick murphy, the former pennsylvania congressman who served in iraq. both of them were at the bottom of the pile as he called it. you just view war differently. but the lesson that these two men took from vietnam are so different. hagel took the questioning, the same as patrick murphy did, fielded lied to. >> here's lindsey graham. badgering hagel. badgering is the word for it. whether the iranian revolutionary guard should be termed a terroristic organization. i think this is aimed directly at south carolina's right wing. let's listen. >> if there was a vote on the floor of the senate this

afternoon to label the iranian revolutionary guard, the people who have killed our soldiers in iraq, some of the most vicious people to the people of iran themselves, if there were a vote tomorrow or this afternoon, would you still vote no? >> i would want to know from the president what they were doing again. >> i mean you read the paper, watch tv. do you very in doubt what they're doing? >> if you had a chance tomorrow, today, after lunch, to vote to say the revolutionary guard was a terrorist organization, would you still vote no? >> well, the reason i voted no to start with -- >> well, i know why. you told me that. my question is would you reconsider and vote yes this time or vote no? >> times change, i recognize that, yes, i would reconsider, but the whole theory. >> thank you. that's encouraging. my time is up. >> do yyou want to know what th

mccarthy period was like, the inquisition chamber, that. >> he didn't give him a chance to answer the question. it wasn't about him himself, it was about lindsey graham grandstanding for the five minutes he gets. congressional hearings have really gone downhill in the last 20, 25 years. you saw yesterday far more talk about what hagel might have said about israel a couple of years ago than about afghanistan. >> they wanted recanation. they wanted him to recant -- >> yes. >> excuse me. that's for you, joy. >> that's exactly right. >> an ecclesiastical proceeding. >> they feel like he turned on them, turn on their war, turned on their neocons and cry uncle. they see chuck hagel as the human roadblock and the some

boll that barack obama, the president obama is not going to let them have their war in iran and that's what's the problem with chuck hagel. >> i say that again. you're so smart. >> i appreciate that. >> i'm serious. i think you're unbelievable. >> thank you, chris. >> i keep hearing my brain talk. thank you. i think we're redundant. coming up it's hillary clinton's last day at the white house. it's the first day of the rest of her life and it may well include campaign for 20106 president. she hasn't said she's going to run but there are plenty of democrats who say i do. we showed you john mccain and lindsey graham's rude behavior and they're hardly alone. the lesson the gop seems to have learned from 2012, if you want

to keep losing, keep doing what you're doing. fascinating. the people in charge of dealing with palestinians and the occupied territories, turns out they're a lot more like barack obama than like benjamin netanyahu. finally let me finish tonight with a fabulous delegation of the united states senate now. elizabeth warren and edward and this is "hardball," the place for politics. to double-check the temperature on the thermometer, be ready. for high fever, nothing works faster or lasts longer. be ready with children's motrin. yeah, i'm looking to save, but i'm not sure which policy is right for me. you should try our coverage checker. it helps you see if you have too much coverage or not enough, making it easier to get what you need. [ beeping ] these are great! [ beeping ] how are you, um, how are you doing? i'm going to keep looking over here. probably a good idea. ken: what's a good idea?

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i knew there was something really special about this place and that having the honor to lead the state department and usaid would be unique and singular, exciting and challenging. it has been all of those things

and so much more. >> withing back to "hardball. "that was secretary hill ril clinton saying good-bye to men and women of the state. now let the campaign begin. donors are itching for the big drive in 2016. take a look at the cover of the issue of "newsweek." with me is former pennsylvania governor ed rendell and cynthia tucker. where would you put hillary versus cleopatra for history's sake? >> cleopatra immediately came to mind for me too. i think hillary clinton still probably has some history in front of her to make before she can be declared the most powerful woman in history. i'll put cleopatra a little ahead of her. >> we settled that.

ed markey -- let me ask you, rendell, governor rendell, let me just try to bother you a little bit. back in 1979 you were convinced that ted kennedy could not be beat for president of the united states. you were out there with billy green. i'm trying to hold onto my speech-running job at the white house, you're trying to take it away from me. so times change. is it conceivable in your hillary hart that times could change of the next three years and she would not be hot to trot to run, that there may not be this ground-swept support for her? doug macarthur i'm told back in 1951 was unbeatable when he was fired by truman. a year later he was nothing. ike took it away. so is it true that hillary has the staying power so that four years from now she could be president? >> yeah, i think she does. ted kennedy, remember, was a fairly young senator and had

hardly proven himself. general macarthur didn't know how to act in public service. hillary clinton has been on the scene for two decades and maz been on the dominant scene. chris, it is unbelievable. i can't walk a block in philadelphia without being stopped by someone who thrusts card in my hand and says when hillary runs, i want to give money. i haven't seen that in my 34 years of experience ever. not even the obama phenomenon matches the enthusiasm here. could something change? of course. remember, it's not really three years. if she wants to make a decision, she has to make a decision by next spring, spring of '14. if she makes that decision, she by and large preempts the democratic field. >> what would you do if you were talking? you'll probably be talking off and on. what do you tell joe biden he should do between now and then to be prepared to run but be

prepared to hit the parachute if she does run? how do you hit both? >> he goes at it like he's going to be candidate because i tlink's still a decent chance hillary will denied not to run. i won't bet on it but i think there's a decent chance. joe should continue to make contact, talk to givers. the problem for joe is -- and people do love and respect joe. i'm in that category. but the givers, the people who are going to decide who really is the most powerful candidate, they're all like joe, but they're all for hillary right now. that's his biggest problem. >> and that's men and women both, right? >> men and women both. >> let me go to cynthia. let's take a look at this poll, most admired women of 2012. let's take a look at the numbers. it's not even close. 21% for her, the first lady at 5%, which is okay, i guess, but not great here. and oprah winfrey, who is like the most powerful woman in the history of the meade yarks televised media, look at her

down there at 4%. it's really stunning the domination, if you will, of this one public figure. >> and i think that's well deser deserved, chris, i really do. think that she has not only done a phenomenal job as secretary of state, but she also -- she ran an excellent campaign in the primaries. and when she lost, she threw her support behind barack obama and worked very hard for him, and, of course, she was his loyal secretary of state. and i think that goes a long way with many people. their campaign was pretty bitter. their rivalry was pretty bitter. and i remember all of the questions in 2008. will hillary really join forces with barack obama? not only did she join forces, she worked hard for him, and she was his very loyal secretary of state. and i think for people all over

the world, that goes a long way in building up their admiration for her. this was a woman who lost the campaign, but when she was called on, she gave it her all. >> well, let me ask you, governor. you're as good a pal as i know. what did she learn? somebody said recently, the secretary herself, there are lessons she learned looking back. it's easy to look back in 2008, was that she had to be a better communicator. that covers a lot of territory. i think what hurt her most is her vote for the iraq war. within the confines of the democratic caucus, that war was the issue, the opposition to it. and the fact that she voted for it gave issue to barack obama, a state senator in chicago. he volted against it without worrying about it. she hedged her thoughts and voted for it. it seem like the doesn't have

that kind of impediment if she runs. >> if you remember her biggest problem was working-class women, blue collar women. and yet by the end of the campaign she was racking up huge majorities in virginia and kentucky and pennsylvania and places like that. she was attracting working-class women. she was a rock star in scranton and pittsburgh and places like that. she learned to communicate as a populist. and i think she learned to save some money for contingencies. >> i learned a lot too. >> any money after super tuesday she would have been a nominee, but she spent all her money and went down the chute. >> if you run it next time, you'll be better. i've got that look from some those working-class women. if you were against hillary, you're in big trouble.

cynthia, you can't wait, can you? >> you know, i think that by 2014, the prospect of becoming the very first female president of the united states will be too powerful for hillary clinton to say no. she's also a person who could hold together what has become known as the obama coalition. >> thank you, cynthia tucker and my good friend ed rendell. thank you both for coming. happy friday. up next, the sideshow. and this is "hardball," the place for politics. at first, jake's family thought they saved ziggy, but his connection with jake has been a lifesaver. for a love this strong, his family only feeds him iams. compared to other leading brands, it has 50% more animal protein... ...to help keep ziggy's body as strong as a love that reaches further than anyone's words. iams. keep love strong.

for those nights when it's more than a bad dream, be ready. for the times you need to double-check the temperature on the thermometer, be ready. for high fever, nothing works faster or lasts longer. be ready with children's motrin.

back to "hardball." let's say you're a senator who has to take up the issue of gay

marriage and there's something that would ban it entirely. in those circumstances you might expect it to be a hot topic with reporters, right? illinois senator schock saw it coming. >> why don't you support it? >> well, i just haven't. >> is there a reason? there seems to be a few states that have passed it. the needle is moving in a lot of polls. i wonder what the reason is? >> i think everybody has a set of beliefs on issues, social issues that has a situation of how you were raised and their believes. what you're seeing is reviews in how society's changed. >> that's a shock. he said he's considering running for governor of illinois. next, what has nothing to do with the super bowl. it started when defensive back

chris made comments on radio. to defend the teams overall position on gay rights some took part in a video for the "it gets better" project, a group that reaches out to teens that get bullied. >> there's nothing about being young. >> being yourself. >> every day bring different challenges. >> nothing that you should ever experience as being bullied, pressured or something you're not. >> the san francisco 49ers are proud to be supporters of itgetsbetter.org. >> believe in yourself, set goals for yourself. >> look to future and it will get better. >> that was last august but in an interview with saw today two

of the viewers initially denied participation. one of them, ahmed brooks said, quote, i think if i made a video, i would remember it. this is america. if someone wants to be gay, they should be gay. we showed him the video and he said, oh, oh, that. that was a anti-bullying project. they have removed their ved owe from the website. that's "hardball" for now. coming up next, "your business" with j.j. ramberg. be ready. for high fever, nothing works faster or lasts longer. be ready with children's motrin. in the middle of the night it can be frustrating. it's hard to turn off and go back to sleep. intermezzo is the first and only prescription sleep aid approved for use as needed in the middle of the night when you can't get back to sleep. it's an effective sleep medicine

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